iPhone Mini

Apple’s rumored mid-tier handset called the iPhone 5C is said to feature a plastic body much like the iPhone 3GS, only sturdier. Using polycarbonate plastic in place of the iPhone 5’s sensitive two-tone aluminum + glass combo should yield some much-needed advancements in the scratch resistance department, as shown in a video posted by Taiwan’s Apple Daily.

The clip also gives us the exact measurements of the iPhone 5C’s rear shell which, despite rocking the same four-inch screen as the current iPhone 5, appears to be just slightly taller and thicker than its high-end counterpart…

With less than a month until Apple’s September 10 iPhone event, Bloomberg has scanned the blogs and talked to its unnamed sources in an effort to dig up some previously unknown “facts” about Apple’s upcoming iPhone and iPad refreshes.

Now, stop me if you’ve heard this before, but much of Bloomberg’s reporting centers around a thinner and lighter iPad 5 with iPad mini style design.

Where it gets interesting, however, is a claim that Apple also plans to introduce a Retina iPad mini this year rather than in 2014…

It hasn’t escaped the attention of eagle-eyed bloggers that the working conditions report also mentions an alleged less-pricey iPhone through the mouth of one of the interviewed workers tasked with assembling Apple’s rumored device at Pegatron’s Shanghai plant.

As you know, the rumor-mill, pundits and big media alike are widely expecting the budget iPhone to feature a less-pricey polycarbonate body…

Now, we’ve seen these things previously shown off extensively in a high-resolution video, hires close ups and a bunch of previously published photographs. What distinguishes this particular “leak” from others are the certification markings on the back – and that’s an unexpected treat in my book…

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is fast becoming the de facto most reliable Apple watcher. Expanding on his April note which advised investors to brace themselves for a delayed iDevice roll-out over manufacturing “challenges,” his just-updated shipments timetable now offers more in way of detail.

Long story short, the analyst is expecting the iPhone 5S in late-September, but in limited quantity, with the oft-rumored plastic iPhone (he’s calling it an ‘iPhone Lite’) becoming available even sooner than the iPhone 5S in early-September because its chassis is easier to make than the two-tone iPhone 5S design.

Early September will also bring us an updated iPad 5, he said, but there will be no iPad mini successor this year due to engineering issues. As for the Mac family, Kuo sees a mid-September launch of a Haswell-enabled Retina MacBook Pro, with a Haswell-driven iMac up for a late-August introduction. The full breakdown is right after the break…

The sheer amount of would-be budget iPhone shells and supposed parts coming out from Asia has gotten out of hand.

Case in point: a small electronics company Techdy just recently posted several photographs that purportedly picture the chassis of Apple’s long rumored less-pricey iPhone.

These shots made rounds on the web until someone exposed them for what they are: a publicity stunt. Indeed, all of a sudden Techdy started selling an Android handset that looks like Apple’s rumored budget iPhone. This is precisely why iDB passes on dozens of tips we receive on a daily basis and instead selectively tells you about the most interesting “leaks”.

Today’s nugget fits that description perfectly. Not only does a new set of photos reveal what appears to be some sort of an iPhone shell next to the iPhone 5, they do so in intricate detail unlike most prior leaks. We have high-resolution closeups just after the break…

With both big media, Chinese blogs and everyone and their mother in between seemingly betting on the arrival of Apple’s polycarbonate-made mid-range handset later this year, small wonder purported spyshots of the device’s casing have been leaking out from Far East.

iOS developer Sonny Dickson, who has previously proven himself a reliable source of information about unreleased Apple products, has been on a roll these days tweeting out a number of purported plastic iPhone images. The newest series of authentic-looking images depict several colorized plastic iPhone shells, including one comparing the current iPhone 5 to the purported less-pricey model…

The-not-so-reliable analyst Peter Misek made rounds last week convincing clients that mass production of the iPhone 5S was about to start later in the month, in time for a late-September or early-October launch.

Misek’s mixed track record and another surprising claim of his – that Apple has already begun production of a rumored lower-cost iPhone – led us to file the report under the ‘Unlikely’ drawer.

But the story unexpectedly grew more legs today as AllThingsD, the respectable blog owned by the credulous Wall Street Journal, independently confirmed that this is indeed the case…

Last week, a usually reliable French blog found a pair of images said to depict the polycarbonate shell of Apple’s purported lower-cost iPhone. The Cupertino company has long been said to be working on a lower-cost handset to make inroads into emerging markets like China and India. If these shots are anything to go by, the budget iPhone will come in some vivid colors, like yellow, red and green.

The same blog on Wednesday re-posted another photograph that pictures a blue variant of the device, bringing the number of supposed color choices to four. More tidbits right after the break…

Leaks and sketchy pieces of information concerning Apple’s rumored less expensive iPhone continue to trickle in. This past Saturday, for example, a credible blog has brought us images of a purported budget iPhone rear panel, a solid indication that Apple might be well beyond the research phase for the alleged product.

Today, a Chinese tech blog writes that Apple’s favorite manufacturer Foxconn has started shipping first units as Apple shoots for a Fall release…

A pair of photos have surfaced this morning, allegedly showing the plastic shell of Apple’s rumored budget iPhone. The Cupertino company has long been said to be working on a lower-cost handset to help it make inroads into emerging markets like China and India.

The two images come from Nowhereelse.fr, who has shared accurate photos of leaked Apple components in the past. And while the site acknowledges that it’s possible the part could simply belong to a Chinese clone, it does match up with several previous reports…

There’s no escaping budget iPhone talk today. Reuters opened the morning discussion with a write-up calling for two large-screen iPhones in 2014 and citing sources insisting that an elusive less-pricey iPhone will get released later this year at a somewhat unbelievable price point of just $99.

Shortly after, the reliable Japanese blog Macotkara learned from its sources that the alleged budget iPhone will come in five colors borrowed from Apple’s iPhone 5 bumpers: black, white, pink, orange and blue. A Chinese newspaper now seemingly corroborates the chatter, writing that a bunch of Taiwanese suppliers are now shipping parts ahead of the handset assembly…